Marriage & Civil Partnership

Marriage & Civil Partnership

Oxfordshire Registration Service is proud to serve the whole community with consideration and respect. The Registration web sitegives full details.

Marriage is now available for all couples, but same sex couples also have the option of forming a civil partnership. Couples who have formed a civil partnership have the option of converting this to a marriage if they wish.

Civil Weddings

Marriage is now available for all couples, but same sex couples also have the option of forming a civil partnership

The Registration Service would be delighted to help you organise your wedding day and want to help make it special. You can get married in one of the ceremony rooms in Abingdon, Banbury, Bicester, Didcot, Henley, Oxford, Wheatley and Witney or in one of the licensed venues of your choice. In Oxfordshire, there are over 80 licensed venues to choose from, providing beautiful and stunning settings for your civil wedding – everything from historic buildings to comfortable modern hotels. The Registration Service will work with you to give you the ceremony you want.

Full information on the legal formalities and the options available for your weddingcan be found here.

Civil Partnerships

Same-sex couples can also choose to form a civil partnership which gives them the same rights and benefits as married couples. You can choose to have a ceremony or just visit a register office and sign a schedule. If you decide to have a ceremony, the Registration Service will work with you to ensure this is personal and special to you both.

As with a civil wedding, you can form your partnership in one of the ceremony rooms in Abingdon, Banbury, Bicester, Didcot, Henley, Oxford, Wheatley and Witney, or in one of the licensed venues of your choice.

Converting a civil partnership into a marriage

Couples have the option of converting their existing civil partnership to a marriage, provided they registered the partnership in England or Wales. There is no obligation to convert your partnership to a marriage, this is purely a personal choice.

If you do decide to convert your civil partnership to a marriage, the Registration Service would be happy to help. You would need to attend a register office but it does not need to be the one where the partnership was registered. You don’t need to go through a marriage ceremony to complete the conversion. However, you may want to mark this as a special point in your relationship and can offer you a celebratory ceremony at a venue of your choice. One of our experienced Celebrants will listen to your wishes and tailor a ceremony to your make it personal and meaningful to both of you.

Marriage is now available for all couples, but same sex couples also have the option of forming a civil partnership. Couples who have formed a civil partnership have the option of converting this to a marriage if they wish.